Later, Sooners: Trojans win NCAA title

The No. 1 seeded USC men’s tennis team secured the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship in dramatic fashion Tuesday against the No. 2 seeded Oklahoma Sooners at Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.  The Trojans, who lost the doubles point and fell behind early 2-0, charged back with the one-two punch of senior Ray Sarmiento and junior Yannick Hanfmann to pick up the championship, 4-2.

Back on top – The USC men’s tennis team clinched their fifth NCAA title in six years Tuesday in Athens, Georgia. — Photo courtesy of Sports Information

Sophomore Max de Vroome clinched the final point for the Trojans against Sooner Andrew Harris. The Netherlands native played an aggressive third set, approaching the net often and pushing Harris—and the Sooners’ national title hopes—against the wall.  In the final game of final set with de Vroome up three championship points, the Trojan sophomore showed signs of nerves in the face of massive pressure. On consecutive points, De Vroome hit two shots long from the baseline to put Harris in a position to force deuce. De Vroome recalled the moment in a postgame press conference.

“There’s so much going through your mind, but seeing your teammates and the coaches next to your court, they help you through. There’s no way I could have done it without them,” de Vroome said. “It’s just fighting for them.”

With the weight of a trophy squarely on his shoulders, the 6-foot-5 sophomore calmed himself at 40-30 and returned to the formula that had allowed him to dominate the third set: he served up a monster and approached the net, neutralizing Harris’ equally strong return with a lethal backhand volley down the ad side line to stun the 53^rd-ranked Sooner and clinch the championship. The horns of the Trojan Marching Band blared “Conquest” into the warm evening air at Dan Magill Tennis Complex as De Vroome was mobbed by his exuberant teammates.

The championship did not come easy for the Trojans, who got off to a shaky start by losing the doubles point. In singles play, junior Roberto Quiroz suffered a tough loss to Oklahoma’s Dane Webb in line three, 6-1, 6-2 to give the Sooners a 2-0 lead. The Trojans’ fortunes would quickly change, however, as junior Yannick Hanfmann dismantled the No. 5 ranked player in the nation, opponent Guillermo Alcorta on line one, 7-5, 6-2, and Sarmiento wrapped up business on line two with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over No. 7 ranked Axel Alvarez.

Sarmiento began his match down 1-3 in the first set as Alvarez launched an offensive incorporating some brilliant shot making and improvisation.

“I dug myself a pretty big hole there at the beginning,” Sarmiento said. “But since day one coach has emphasized leaving it all out there on the court. Whatever happens, happens, I’m just competing my butt off.”

And something happened — Sarmiento raged back, stringing together multiple sets and service breaks to stun Alvarez 6-4 in the first set. The senior captain’s exceptional balance and footwork was on display throughout the final round, and as the match wore on, Alvarez looked at a loss as to how to compete with Sarmiento’s composure and devastatingly accurate shots.

Junior Eric Johnson put the Trojans up 3-2 with his 6-1, 7-6 victory at line five. The clinching match was a race between senior Michael Grant at line six, who held a 4-2 advantage in the third set of his match against Alex Ghilea, and sophomore de Vroome at line four.

Tuesday’s victory also marked USC head coach Peter Smith’s fifth NCAA title with the Trojans, his first four coming in a historic “four-peat” from 2009 to 2012. Smith, the 2012 ITA National Coach of the Year, was complimentary of the Oklahoma Sooners and their coach John Roddick, who on Tuesday was named the 2014 ITA National Coach of the Year.

“We had all played these guys a couple times,” Smith said. “We knew exactly who they were. Let me tell you something; John Roddick and Oklahoma Sooners were a class act out there.”

USC’s title was also a milestone for the Trojan family at large: it was the 100th NCAA team title for USC’s athletic program. The Trojans’ 84 Division I men’s team titles are the most in the nation.

UPDATE: Due to publishing deadlines, an abridged version of this article ran in the print edition of the Summer Trojan.